In an announcement this week, the TSA said that Unisys will continue to provide Information Technology Managed Services (ITMS) for TSA itself and for the headquarters of its parent agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

When the TSA was created shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Unisys and its partners was brought in to create the IT infrastructure needed by the fledgling agency and its employee. The TSA now has about 60,000 employees using the IT systems created by Unisys.

The new contract will help TSA integrate its IT operations into an ongoing DHS IT program update now out for bid, according to the agencies.

"With the award of this contract, TSA has begun the process of migrating as quickly as possible to a department-wide approach for IT solutions," Rick Gunderson, TSA's acting assistant administrator for acquisition, said in a statement.

The new contract replaces the original TSA/DHS services pact, which expires Jan. 10 and provided a full range of IT and telecommunications services for the agencies, said Greg Baroni, president of Unisys Global Public Sector operations for the Blue Bell, Pa.-based vendor. Under the new agreement, Unisys will manage everything from desktop computers to laptops, peripherals and voice communications and will provide help desk, e-mail, security, connectivity and other services, Baroni said. Also included are application integration, hosting, testing and related services.